Other Voices: Self-sufficiency For All Workers

July 29, 2003|By ADAM TURNER Guest Columnist

Poverty

Poverty is more complicated than a line on a chart. Federal poverty standards have traditionally drawn just such a line. For a family of three that line is drawn at $15,020. Those below the line are poor, says the federal government; those above the line are not.

That concept of poverty is arbitrary, unrealistic and outdated. The standards resulting from this view of poverty are overly simplistic and deceptively low. A family just over the threshold will likely still be in need of public support to make ends meet.

That's why the Virginia Organizing Project agrees with a study, released last summer by the Action Alliance for Virginia's Children and Youth, which measures what people must earn to be truly self-sufficient and believes that state policy should be set according to these standards.

The study, called the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Virginia, isn't one set of numbers. It consists of hundreds of numbers that describe what different types of families must earn to be truly self-sufficient in different areas of the state.

Federal poverty standards are static; the same figures apply whether a family lives in Richmond or Chicago or Los Angeles. But that's contrary to experience, even within Virginia.

Common sense tells us that a dollar goes farther in Abingdon than in Arlington, that the standard of living is lower in Wytheville than in Virginia Beach. The Self-Sufficiency Standard recognizes this. We know that housing costs and transportation costs can vary widely even within one state.

Differences in family structure and the area in which a family lives dramatically influence how far a paycheck can go. That's why the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Virginia provides precise details about how much 70 different family types must earn to pay for housing, food, child care and other basic needs without outside assistance.

The costs vary for each locality in Virginia, by the age of the children and the number of children in a family.

For example, a single parent raising an infant and a preschool-age child in Richmond would need an income of at least $34,510 to be fully independent. That same family would need to earn $35,695 in Charlottesville, $49,636 in Fairfax County, $32,724 in Virginia Beach and $21,826 in Abingdon.

The Self-Sufficiency Standard goes beyond the one-size-fits-all approach of federal poverty standards and approaches the real question, "What does the family need to be self-sufficient?"

This is particularly true in Virginia, a state that taxes family incomes near the poverty line, and where the top rate on the state income tax kicks in at $17,000 in income.

The other point illustrated by the standards is the need for the statewide adoption of living wage laws. A look at the income level necessary to raise a family to the self-sufficiency level makes it clear that entry-level, minimum-wage jobs don't come close to providing enough income.

A return to the concept of "an honest day's work for an honest day's wage" is necessary if all Virginia's families are to become independent and self-sufficient.

And isn't that what everyone -- conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat -- wants?

Turner is a 2003 graduate of Monticello High School and lives in Scottsville. He wrote this for the Virginia Organizing Project (www.virginia-organizing.org), a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to increasing public participation in matters of public policy. For more information on the self-sufficiency standards, visit the Web at www.sixstrategies.com.